Literature of the Hart

In English tuition, we want to engage and entertain students as well as educate them. Using pictures is a great way to do this, and you may already have read my popular post about using images to learn vocabulary .   Students who are learning English as an additional language often have to work hard to understand  English tenses.   Pictures are a great way to practise the past continuous and the past simple.   This exercise involves a surprise meeting...! Here's the first picture for the past continuous: The past continuous  is formed by using "was" and then adding "-ing", so the student should say: I was walking Here is the next picture, and this time the student should use the past simple . So they could say (using the past simple this time): I saw a tiger! Obviously verbs and other grammatical features need to be understood and added, but the student now can put the two clauses together using a conjunction to create a sentence, and even a story...

I am offering a 50% discount for small group sessions during the Easter holidays which will focus on 3 different programmes: 1. Descriptive and narrative writing (25%) of English Language GCSE grade 2. Transactional writing (a further 25%) of English Language GCSE grades 3. If students are studying the same literature texts, then it will also be possible to run sessions on popular English Literature texts like An Inspector Calls, Jekyll and Hyde, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and unseen poetry. Each programme will consist of A group session where I will teach and students will practise skills An independent revision task for students to do in their own time and email to me An individualised feedback session of up to 10 minutes with each student Contact me to find out more

It was a privilege to share some of my writing with friends and members of the community at 'The Bookery', Crediton, yesterday. 'The Bookery' is a social enterprise and bookshop that promotes books, reading and literacy in Devon, and I am aligned with their mission to cause: " Buy Books.  Do Good. " Nurturing the enjoyment of, and fascination with, literature, is one of my main aims in my tutoring of young people. You can get in touch through the Contact Form if you'd like to know more.

In an age where images and videos predominate, does reading still matter? We might feel that the answer is yes, but I wonder if we would all give the same reasons? Recently we celebrated World Book Day in the UK.  It was a good  time to reflect and talk about reading: what we are reading, why we read, and why we think it matters. For me, there are a number of important reasons why I would answer with a resounding “YES” to the question I have posed - does reading still matter? Reading opens our minds to other people’s experiences and to other times and societies different from our own Reading takes us deep into thoughts and feelings that otherwise we may never have experienced Reading gives us a language to talk about aspects of our own experiences that we may never have been able to give voice to before Reading enables us to respond to life in greater depth Reading opens us to new communities of others who have read the same authors and books Reading develops our powers of ref...

Hartland Educational Consultancy Services offers tuition in English, EAL/ESL and English Literature. Michael and Jenny are both Cambridge English graduates.  Michael is a former Headteacher, Head of English and examiner.  Jenny is a qualified EAL teacher and examiner and has taught English as an additional language to children and adults around the UK. We offer a free 30 minute online consultation Contact us here

The Salt Path is an incredible read. What would you do if you lost your house and also received a diagnosis of a terminal illness? -  obviously, take on a long distance walking trail around the south west peninsula of the UK! These two traumatic events happened in the same week to Raynor Winn, the author of The Salt Path , and her partner, Moth.  I am currently reading this powerful book and finding it un-put-down-able. The journey is an ancient metaphor for personal and spiritual progress - think of The Odyssey, The Canterbury Tales, Pilgrim’s Progress…   And reading gives us something of that sense of pilgrimage as we “walk” through the pages of an author day after day for several weeks or months. So as World Book Day approaches - which writer are you walking with? I specialise at stretching able students to achieve top grades in English Language and English Literature.   I offer a free 30 minute online introductory session if you would like to know more . ...